Taught by His Eminence Metropolitan Nikitas and Dr. Olga Louchakova Schwartz Winter 2015, Mondays 9:40 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., at the Graduate Theological Union, PAOI
Prayer of the Heart includes various other spiritual disciplines and practices. Students will examine the history, the “hesychastic tradition”, and theological and metaphysical concepts related to the practice. We will study the meaning of expressions such as “the incomprehensible God, theosis, purity, emptiness, inner being, and spiritual guide” , as they relate to this practice, the psychological aspects of “sobriety” (wakefulness) and inner stillness. introspection and revelation. While emphasis will be given to the Eastern Orthodox understanding of the Prayer of the Heart and its development, students will also examine the analogous practices in other traditions, including Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, Merkava and Sufism. For more information, contact email@example.com.